2023: Top five movers and shakers
Capping off 2023, FinTech Futures takes a look at some of the top movers and shakers this year.
Despite funding constraints, the fintech and banking sectors proved themselves as the place to be this year with no shortage of exciting hires.
With the flurry of activity making for one of the industry’s hottest topics this year, FinTech Futures revisits some of the top movers and shakers of 2023 below.
Anne Boden steps down as CEO of Starling Bank
Anne Boden steps down as Starling CEO
UK challenger Starling Bank’s founder Anne Boden stepped down from the role of CEO on 30 June.
Boden remains on the company’s board as a non-executive director. Starling’s COO, John Mountain, has taken over as interim CEO while the challenger bank continues its global search for a permanent replacement.
“When I started Starling in 2014, I was told no one ever starts a bank, nobody wins market share and you’ll never make a profit. Today’s results prove them wrong,” Boden said.
“Now that we have grown from being an aspiring challenger to an established bank, it is clear the roles and priorities of a CEO and a large shareholder ultimately differ and require distinct approaches. As Starling continues to evolve and grow, separating my two roles is in the bank’s best interests.
“Handing over my responsibilities to John Mountain will enable me to focus on my position as a shareholder, championing Starling and ensuring we hold true to our values and vision of changing banking for the better.”
HSBC appoints CEO and COO for new embedded finance JV
HSBC has appointed Vinay Mendonca as the CEO designate of its new embedded finance joint venture with US fintech Tradeshift.
Set to launch in the first half of 2024, the new venture will aim to develop embedded finance solutions and financial services apps. It will be backed by a two-stage $35 million investment from HSBC, which will also own 75% of the business, with Tradeshift owning the remaining 25%.
In addition, Barry O’Byrne, CEO of global commercial banking at HSBC, has been named as board chair for the new venture.
Standard Chartered global head leaves to found fintech start-up
Manohar Chadalavada leaves Standard Chartered
After 18 years with the UK-based multinational bank, Standard Chartered’s long-standing executive, Manohar Chadalavada, announced his intention to “step into the next phase of my career” in August.
Joining Standard Chartered in 2005, Chadalavada served in several capacities until 2014, when he was promoted to country chief risk officer for the Philippines, a role he served in for nearly three years.
Appointed as group head retail risk services and innovation in 2016 and global head servicing and transaction journey, retail innovation and fintech in 2018, he eventually reached the role managing director and global head of AI, ecosystems and open banking, serving from April 2021 until his departure in August.
Since then, Chadalavada went on to join “the founding team/CxO at an exciting stealth start-up/fintech”, with the industry waiting with bated breath for further details.
IDBI Bank names Nehal Shah as new deputy CTO
IDBI Bank, an Indian public sector bank providing retail, corporate, investment and agri-business banking services, appointed Nehal Shah as its new deputy chief technology officer (CTO) in October.
Joining from credit information company TransUnion CIBIL, where he most recently served as joint vice president, IDBI Bank has tasked Shah with managing its IT security and digital channels across its immediate payment service, ATM, POS and internet and mobile banking functions.
The appointment follows the bank’s major core banking revamp in 2016, the same year it became a certified issuer of India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI), introduced by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
US fintech Brex names Karandeep Anand as its first president
Brex promotes CPO Karandeep Anand to president
The expense management platform Brex looked to its chief product officer, Karandeep Anand, to name its first president in November.
He first joined the San Francisco-based company in January 2022, helping to develop and launch its flagship AI product, Brex Assistant, in September.
Leveraging more than two decades of experience in B2B product development at technology firms, including Meta and Microsoft, the company’s new president says his biggest priority is to “maximise the synergies between the teams who build our products and the teams that bring our products to customers”.
He adds that he aims to “strengthen the ties” between the firm and its customers and “create a stronger feedback loop between our customers, our customer-facing teams, and our product-building teams”.
